Irina Mataeva- «You» and «Thou» (Ty i vy) (Cui)

Irina Mataeva, lyric soprano (REPOST)

Although Anna Netrebko is undoubtedly a wonderful singer, her fame has tended to overshadow other talented lyric sopranos that have emerged from Russia in the last decade or so. Galina Gorchakova is one such example. Another is Irina Mataeva, a native of Tyumen and member of the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater, with which she has appeared on tour at the MET. I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Mataeva on stage twice, a few years ago in St. Petersburg. The first was an evening of operetta arias and duets, with other members of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers. The other was in the role of Amour- in a concert performance of Berlioz's 1859 revision of Gluck's "
"Orphee", with a stupendous Ewa Podles. Mataeva's voice, while not a large instrument, is clear, pure, and limpid as a mountain brook- a true delight to listen to. And she is a lovely and gracious young lady. The only other Youtube clip of the singer (Tatiana's Letter Scene) does not show her at her best, so I thought I'd post a recording that does.

César Cui's romance «You» and «Thou» (Ty i Vy), Op. 57, No.11, is a setting of a tender poem by Aleksandr Pushkin, which plays on the subtle difference between formal and informal means of address in the Russian language. A young girl's slight slip of the tongue in favor of the informal "you" awakens a world of amorous dreams in her would-be lover- and all this in one short Pushkin octave! As for Cui (1835-1918), he is often deemed the least important of the group of nationalist composers known as the "Moguchaya Kuchka" ("The Mighty Handful"), and much of his output is indeed diffuse and routine. In the art song, however, he found the expressive simplicity that eluded him in virtually every other genre, and here he ranks with the best of the Russian composers. Actually, as a song composer I find him more consistent than either Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff, and a better melodist than Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakoff, or Mussorgsky. In a mere minute's time, Cui's gently rippling arpeggios evoke all the wide-eyed wonder and innocence of blossoming love. And Mataeva's delicately spun phrases are quite magical. She is accompanied by Larissa Gergieva in this 2001 recording.

Transliteration and translation of the poem follow:

Pustoje vy serdechnym ty
Ona, obmolvjas', zamenila,
I vse schastlivyje mechty
V dushe vljubljonnoj vozbudila.
Pred nej zadumchivo stoju,
Svesti ochej s nejo net sily;
I govorju jej: kak vy mily!
I myslju: kak tebja ljublju.

Instead of the empty word "you,"
not thinking, she tenderly said "thou,"
and all my heart's secret desires
were rekindled in my lovesick soul.
I stand before her, lost in thought,
unable to take my eyes off her;
I tell her: "How dear you are to me!"
But I think: "How I do love thee."

Видео Irina Mataeva- «You» and «Thou» (Ty i vy) (Cui) канала khankonchak